In a ring-spinning frame, yarn from packages of roving passes through drafting rolls and yarn guides to a traveler ring which orbits the bobbin and traverses the length of the bobbin, building a compact package of spun yarn on the bobbin. The area of the spindle below which the bobbin sits is referred to as the whirl. Several wraps of yarn are wound onto the whirl during each doff cycle.
During the spinning cycle, yarn is wound onto the empty bobbins. Once the bobbins are full, the ring rail traverses down below the bobbin and several wraps of yarn are wound onto the whirl before the spinning frame is stopped to doff the full bobbins. After the full bobbins are removed from the spindle and the frame is restarted, several wraps of yarn remain on the whirls.
It is important that the yarn remaining on the whirls be removed regularly to avoid excess buildup on the whirls and eventful discharge of yarn and fiber into the rings, travelers, or yarn being processed. To facilitate regular and efficient removal of the excess yarn, many methods using brushes, various materials and rotating disks have been used to tear or scrape away the excess yarn from the whirl. The most recent of these methods is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,086 in which blade-like devices are mounted adjacent to the base of each spindle. These blades have a flat target area such that a stream of compressed air directed against the blade causes the end edges of the blade to move against the spindle whirl. The excess yarn on the whirl is impinged by the blades, broken, and thrown off the whirl.
The pressure of the compressed air may be reduced when the nozzle of the compressed air source is placed in close proximity to the whirl cleaner blades. This distance, however, is limited by the maximum width of the textile machine or any other obstructions the cleaning machine must negotiate while traversing one or several textile machines.
Whirl cleaning is normally only one function of a textile-cleaning machine. A typical cleaner continuously traverses the textile machine blowing lint and fly from the machines and collecting from the floor loose fibers and other particulate matter created in the spinning process. The whirl-cleaning function is required for only a fraction of this time; thus, the controls described in the above-noted patent interrupt the discharge of compressed air, impinging the whirl blades when whirl cleaning is not required.